Marc Marquez continued his dominance of pre-season testing at Sepang on Wednesday, leading a Honda 1-2-3. The world champion was the only rider to break the two minute barrier to finish four tenths clear of teammate Dani Pedrosa and LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl although times were close behind the leader, just a quarter of a second separating Pedrosa and seventh placed Bradley Smith.
Most riders set their quickest times in the morning with Marquez clocking a 1:59.926 shortly before the lunch break. Pedrosa and Bradl also peaked in the morning with Dani setting a 2:00.336 on Bridgestone’s new soft tyre, just three thousandths of a second quicker than the German. Valentino Rossi was a tenth further back in fifth, finishing as the top Yamaha rider once again, while Aleix Espargaro produced a sensational display to take fifth on the open FTR-Yamaha for Forward Racing. Two more Yamahas completed a tight top seven with Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith three hundredths apart in sixth and seventh.
Pramac’s Andrea Iannone led the Ducati challenge for the second day in a row but Alvaro Bautista struggled in comparison to day one, suffering a technical problem this morning on his Gresini Honda. The Spaniard returned to the track and claimed ninth late on with Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro completing the top ten, setting his best time at the beginning of the day.
Although their positions didn’t change significantly, Ducati’s factory riders each found over a second form their Tuesday best. Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow were eleventh and twelfth respectively with Michele Pirro and Nicky Hayden close behind, the latter finishing as the quickest of the production Hondas. Scott Redding, also aboard the open-spec Honda, closed the gap on the leaders from four to three seconds on a positive day for the British rookie, ending the day in 21st position.
| MOTOGP OFFICIAL TEST – SEPANG (WEDNESDAY 5TH FEBRUARY) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME | |
| 1 |  MARC MARQUEZ |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:59.926 | |
| 2 | DANI PEDROSA |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:00.336 | |
| 3 |  STEFAN BRADL |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 2:00.339 | |
| 4 |  VALENTINO ROSSI |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:00.464 | |
| 5 | ALEIX ESPARGARO |
FTR YAMAHA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:00.547 | |
| 6 | JORGE LORENZO |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 2:00.573 | |
| 7 |  BRADLEY SMITH |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:00.603 | |
| 8 | ANDREA IANNONE |
DUCATI | ENERGY T.I. PRAMAC RACING | 2:00.855 | |
| 8 | ALVARO BAUTISTA |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:00.897 | |
| 10 | POL ESPARGARO |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:01.061 | |
| 11 | ANDREA DOVIZIOSO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:01.146 | |
| 12 | CAL CRUTCHLOW |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:01.396 | |
| 13 | MICHELE PIRRO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEST TEAM | 2:02.177 | |
| 14 |  NICKY HAYDEN |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.287 | |
| 15 | COLIN EDWARDS |
FTR YAHAMA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:02.545 | |
| 16 |  YONNY HERNANDEZ |
DUCATI | IGNITE PRAMAC RACING TEAM | 2:02.675 | |
| 17 |  KOSUKE AKIYOSHI |
HONDA | HRC TEST TEAM | 2:02.692 | |
| 18 | HIROSHI AOYAMA |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.825 | |
| 19 | K. NAKASUGA |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY TEST TEAM | 2:02.970 | |
| 20 |  RANDY DE PUNIET |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:03.064 | |
| 21 | SCOTT REDDING |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:03.117 | |
| 22 | MICHAEL LAVERTY |
ART & PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:03.528 | |
| 23 | HECTOR BARBERA |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:04.551 | |
| 24 |  BROC PARKES |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:04.619 | |
| 25 |  KAREL ABRAHAM |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 2:05.261 | |
| 26 | MIKE DI MEGLIO |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:05.355 | |
